Acknowledgements

Fifty
years ago the Library of Congress had no catalogue entry
for "Human Rights." Today those words can be found
in every hometown newspaper. However, as we celebrate the
50th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1998, we recognize that most people
living in the United States know little about this document,
the foundation for all subsequent developments in human
rights.

Human Rights Here and Now: Celebrating
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is intended
to address that lack of knowledge. It provides background
information, ideas for taking action, and interactive exercises
to help people learn about human rights.

The word HERE in Human Rights
Here and Now means the USA. This book is a tool for
bringing the UDHR into the lives of people in the United
States: kindergartens and unions, Scout troops and senior
citizens centers, religious organizations and prison programs.
Although obviously useful for educators in schools and colleges,
Human Rights Here and Now was also written to serve the
needs of community organizers and activists.

The word NOW in the title marks
three events. The 50th anniversary year of the UDHR is 1999.
Furthermore, the UN has declared 1995-2004 the Decade for
Human Rights Education. And the new millennium that begins
in 2000 inspires us all with hope for a better world to
come. NOW also emphasizes that human rights is a
long-cherished idea whose time has come!

Human Rights Here and Now focuses
specifically on human rights issues in the USA and addresses
two pervasive attitudes:

"Human rights are the same
rights as those guaranteed in the US Constitution and
Bill of Rights." Although these documents embody
precious civil and political liberties and clearly influenced
the drafters of the UDHR, they do not contain the full
range of human rights. For this reason, Human Rights Here
and Now gives equal importance to social, economic, and
cultural rights, which few people living in the United
States understand to be human rights. These include the
right to education, housing, work, food, health care,
and an adequate standard of living.

"Human rights problems happen
only in other countries." Many individuals in
the United States and the US media use the words "human
rights" when referring to problems in countries like
Bosnia, South Africa, China, Iran, or Argentina. Human
Rights Here and Now seeks to bring those words home, celebrating
the rights we enjoy in the United States and challenging
the denial of other rights.

This material represents the inspiration
of many activists, the support of many institutions, and
the work of many hands:

Amnesty International USA, which has
long fostered human rights education, and its Human Rights
Educators Network of dedicated volunteers

Human Rights USA, a project initially
funded by the Ford Foundation to educate people in the United
States about human rights. Human Rights USA includes the
following partners: Edward OBrien of Street Law, Inc.;
Loretta Ross of the Center for Human Rights Education; Kristi
Rudelius-Palmer of the University of Minnesota Human Rights
Center; and Nancy Flowers and Janet Schmidt of the Educators
Network of Amnesty International USA

The Stanley Foundation, which collaborated
in the creation and publication of this book

Center for World Education, College
of Education and Social Services, University of Vermont,
which hosted the initial writing and research institute
in July 1997

Shulamith Koenig, without whose vision
the UN Decade for Human Rights would not have come into
being

These individuals also made significant
contributions:

Ethan Bleifuss

Katie Boylan

Margot Brown

Robin Brown

Janice Christensen

Vienna Colucci

David Conrad

David Donahue

Ellen Dorsey

Bill Fernekes

Pilar Garrido

Jill Goldesberry

Sofia Gruskin

Elise Guyette

Dan Horowitz

Annete Faye Jacobsen

Kirsten C. Jones

Terri Kinne

Sister Claire King, SCC

Bert Lockwood

Ellen Moore

Ed OBrien

Deborah Robbins

Mike Sanders

John Schumacher

Cristina Sganga

Mary Eileen Sorensen

Karla Stone

Barbara Swanson

Cosette Thompson

Paij Wadley-Bailey

David Weissbrodt

In creating this material we have drawn
from a variety of inspiring educators and publications from
around the world. In particular we acknowledge our appreciation
and debt to the following:

Margot Brown, Our World, Our Rights
(Amnesty International-UK, 1996)

David Donahue and Nancy Flowers, The
Uprooted: Refugees and the United States (Hunter House,
1995);